Speaking fees behind Giuliani's $16.1m income

Edwards reports $29.5m in assets in financial papers

By Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press | May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani reported $16.1 million in earned income over the past 16 months, most of it in speaking fees, according to financial documents filed yesterday.

Democratic hopeful John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, in their own filings, reported $29.5 million in assets, including millions in a hedge fund Edwards worked for part time. Edwards's biggest single source of earned income was his $479,512 salary from Fortress Investment Group for consulting work last year.

Giuliani's report is the first detailed glimpse of his vast holdings and income since his term as mayor of New York ended.

Giuliani reported $13 million to $45 million in assets, including his share in Giuliani & Co., a partnership that provides an array of consulting services. He also listed income from dividends and interest on many of those investments of at least $411,332 and as much as $3.3 million.

The disclosure forms do not provide a precise accounting of the candidates' assets and investment income; they only require filers to list those amounts in ranges. The Edwards campaign, however, supplemented its reports with more detail, including the value of the couple's total assets.

Giuliani's biggest single source of income between January 2006 and February 2007 was from speaking engagements, which took him around the world. He grossed $11.4 million in speeches . He typically charged $100,000 per speaking engagement and as much as $200,000.

After speaking at an event in Louisiana for the PGA Tour, Giuliani donated $80,000 to New Orleans charities.

Giuliani reported income of $4.1 million from Giuliani & Co. and $1.2 million from Bracewell & Giuliani, a law firm that also provides lobbying services for its clients. Giuliani also received $146,092 in royalties for "Leadership," a book about his experiences during and after the terrorist attack s of Sept. 11, 2001.

His assets include a personal loan of $250,000 to $500,000 to Kenneth Caruso, a senior lawyer at Bracewell & Giuliani and a decades-long aide to Giuliani.

He received about $395,000 for speeches -- including one for $44,000 -- and was paid a $40,000 salary for work at the University of North Carolina Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.

The Edwards family donated more than $350,000 to charity .

Edwards's largest holding was a conservative investment: $5 million to $25 million in a money market fund. The candidate and his wife had $1 million to $5 million in Fortress Investment Fund III, a private equity fund that invests in businesses in the United States and Western Europe. He had lesser amounts in other funds.

Edwards also received $333,334 in royalties for his book, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives." The money went to charity.

The former North Carolina senator owned several properties in his native state, including buildings in Raleigh that each were worth $500,000 to $1 million. He also owned land in Raleigh valued at $50,001 and $1 million.

He listed two liabilities: a variable line of credit from a bank of $500,001 to $1 million and a $15,001 to $50,000 mortgage.